Death Boy
by astori
Summary: The first thing you need to know is that the seven stages of unbecoming a superhero are nothing like the seven stages of grief. AU.


**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Or Batman.**

The first thing you need to know is that the seven stages of unbecoming a superhero are nothing like the seven stages of grief, but they both managed to stuff Nico's heart into a charcoal black hole and bury it alive.

The first stage is doubt.

These are the nights when he scrounged around rooftops wearing black spandex, a cape, and mask looking for all the world like a sad washed out Batman. These are the nights he spent talking to dead people like they were his best and only friends because here's the thing: when you're born with the unnatural and often terrifying ability to see and talk to dead people you spend all of your time holding conversations with said ghosts and forgetting to make real friends. Then the dead really do become your only companions.

These are the nights he spent thinking about how he's been doing this for 3 years and nothing has changed. These are the nights he spent thinking about all of the people he didn't save and all of the things he didn't do.

Doubt leads to the second stage which is simply not caring.

It's not that he stopped caring about the people that needed help or even that he stopped caring about any of the really important things. It's that he stopped caring about the details that unfurl in between stopping crimes and saving lives. Like his secret identity (which was never that great anyways. Why did he think being called "Death Boy" would be fun?) Or the amount of hits he took. He didn't mean to stop caring it's just that he got caught up in thinking about _everything else_ and forgot to pay attention to anything that fell outside of that category.

Stage three was coming home one morning at 2AM with a black eye and blood gluing his costume to his body. It was pealing his mask off of his face and letting his weight fall on the couch like his stomach was full of rocks. It was Reyna floating into the room and looking at him with enough sympathy to flood New York. It was watching the ghost of his once very alive best friend look at him like he was the one who'd died as she scrubbed blood off of his face with paper towel. "I think you need to take a break, " she'd said as he'd fallen asleep.

The break is stage four. He tells himself it will only last a week or two. It's just a break.

Exceptit isn't and it wasn't and it wouldn't ever be. Three weeks in and media was wondering where he was. four weeks in and the costume was being folded into a box and shoved under his bed. eight weeks in and rumors were running wild. He was dead, he'd been kidnapped, he's planning something, it's a stunt, he's left us, he's dead. fourteen weeks in and people stopped asking questions.

Stage five is watching the world forget about him and realizing that it doesn't change anything.

Stage six is the guilt and it's maybe the worst part because it's immediate, constant and consuming. Because maybe people are dying without him. Because this is so incredibly selfish. Because what went wrong what triggered this. He knows what changed but it's easier to pretend that he doesn't. He should get up an go help people, save the world, bring criminals to justice, anything. But every time he thinks about that he thinks about _it_ and he knows he can't do it.

So there's the guilt stage and it's not a stage so much as it is an ever present part of his life.

The seventh stage is trying to move on. Mostly, this stage involves watching superhero movies and growing increasingly angry at all of the inaccuracies . Other times it includes getting drunk and doing that same thing.

He's still in the seventh stage when he gets a knock on his door and opens it to find (he swears to god) the human incarnate of the sun. The literal sun is smiling at Nico in a way that makes him very aware of the fact that he's been wearing the same T-shirt and pajama bottoms for the past three days. Which is to say that he's more or less frowning at Nico and not smiling at all. There's a moment of prolonged silence wherein Nico's fingers become familiar with the knots in his hair and the literal sun forces a smile to stretch across his face as he holds a hand out. "I'm, Will Solace. I just moved in down the hall and I thought I should introduce myself."

Nico tears his hand out of his hair so that he can shake Will's. He wants to tell him that he doesn't usually look like this but he kind of actually does nowadays so instead he says, " Nico. Uh, nice to meet you." Nothing about meeting Will has actually been nice. The whole experience has been awkward and embarrassing and Nico would really appreciate it if he'd leave. Will smiles (or grimaces) at Nico one last time before pulling his hand away- Nico thinks he'll probably race back to his apartment to wash said hand- and bidding him farewell.

Nico _almost_ misses it, but just as he's closing his door he manages to catch a glimpse of the back of Will's shirt and - Oh. It's one of _those_ shirts. One of those shirts some Death Boy fan with way to much time on their hands designed in order to spread belief that one day Death Boy will return. Will Solace, the literal sun, is wearing one of those shirts.

Yeah, there was absolutely nothing nice about meeting him. Nothing at all.

 **AN:** So it's a superhero AU. I'd say it's going to be equal parts comedy, action, and romance/angst but no one ever laughs at my jokes and I don't actually watch superhero movies so I'll probably screw that up too.

Criticism, feedback and suggestions are welcome. I apologize for any errors. Regardless of whether you liked it I thank you for taking the time to read.


End file.
